digital music and the music business

Spotify needs to become much more than just a music streamer if its going to be ever be profitable, writes analyst Mark Mulligan of MIDiA. And while many of the actions it is likely to take will antagonize its label partners, Spotify will be left with little choice once it becomes a public company answering to stockholders.

Mixing music is, in many ways, a balancing act. Trying to keep too many elements balanced at once however, can often cause your mix to become overly crowded and busy. Here we look at how to tell if this has happened, and a number of effective solutions for fixing it.

In this cycle back through major music industry news from the past week, we revisit Spotify's kicked up revenue but continual losses, how Radiohead's In Rainbows is fairing ten years later (hint: well), Microsoft's farewell to Groove, and much more!

The chart-topping, most often read articles from Hypebot this week covered Billboard's potential addition of YouTube plays ot its chart calculations, the release of a Spotify for Artists dedicated app, the (sort of) death of record labels and emergence of label services, and more!

Here Jason Peterson offers up recommendations on how copyright owners and platforms supported through advertising can come together in a common goal closing the market gap and achieving market equilibrium.

Revenue at Spotify grew 40% in the first half of this year, according to a new report. Along with the gains, however, came continued losses. The numbers, which were shared privately with investors, come as the music streamer prepares for an IPO early next year.

The free Spotify For Artists toolkit and analytics are now also available to all artists and their teams via a dedicated iOS app. Artists and their teams can now track new music as it goes live, control their presence on Spotify, and learn more about who is playing and playlisting their music.

For artists looking to successfully record music on a budget, there are a broad range of relatively inexpensive tablets and apps easily accessible by consumers. Here we break down some of best, depending on the exact needs of the artist in question.

Many may not be aware that Microsoft has a streaming service all its own called Groove Music, just part of the reason the company has decided to let it go and will instead be fully embracing Spotify. Microsoft plans to halt subscription sales to Groove, and eventually phase it out entirely.

We've been running a Coming Soon banner near the top of the page for the last couple of weeks to let you know that Hypebot is about to undergo some significant changes and improvements, and it's time to share some details.

There is some confusing data out there right now when it comes to the health of terrestrial radio, and although it remains popular in certain settings, such as in the car and at work, radio needs to take certain steps to guarantee it remains a viable media source.

There has long been suspicion among some the music industry that piracy lies deep in the roots of Spotify since the streaming platform's inception. This theory which, has been lent new credence by new report, says that Spotify threatened researchers on the cusp of revealing its darker origins. David Lowery explains why it matters.

Verve has raised an additional $18.5 million to expand its fan-to-fan peer concert marketing and ticket sales platform. The UK based startup, formerly called StreetTeam, counts some of the globe's biggest concert promoters among its early clients.

This week co-hosts Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert are joined by Mo Jalloh Co-founder of Zimrii Music to discuss BlockChain technology. We answer the question what is BlockChain in the simplest terms possible. We also explore how can BlockChain help musicians and the challenges it is facing.

Mixcloud, which has served as a platform for DJ sets, music podcasts and other long form audio since 2009, has finalized a deal with Warner Music Group. Negotiations with UMG and Sony are in the advanced stages, according to sources.

Music commentators this week voiced their thoughts and opinions on holding the line when it comes to statutory damage tradeoffs, how musicians can help in the wake of massive tragedy, and being a female entrepreneur in the music business.

In this pedal back through the past week's music business and industry news, we revisit Tom Petty's legacy, the music industry's reaction to the Las Vegas tragedy, new rock hall of fame inductees, and much more.

An upcoming book, "Spotify Teardown – Inside the Black Box of Streaming Music," aims to tell the company's history including some secrets' that the globe's biggest music streamer would apparently rather not share.

Following the demise of the woefully ineffective anti-piracy 'six-strikes' policy, major telecom companies like Verizon, Comcast, and TWC are continuing to threatening users with disconnection based on what Techdirt Karl Bodi argues is flimsy six-strike era evidence.

Artists using DistroKids' music distribution services are now automatically enrolled in the Spotify For Artists program. Like its revenue sharing tool and unlimited music vault, it's the kind of smart use of technology that allows this limber and lean music tech startup to offer useful features to users at no additional cost.

Blokur, led several music industry veterans, has raided a $1.2 million seed round to bring blockchain technology to music and other creative arts. But Blokur faces steep competition, as well as, the age-old problem of getting the music industry on the same page... about anything.

Voice control, some analysts believe, is the killer app that will take music streaming mainstream, as well as, encourage more paid subscribers. This week has been flooded with major voice controlled music announcements and product launches from Sonos, Amazon, Google and today from Spotify.